I didn't score the bread because in the book, Bread by Jeffrey Hamelman under recipe for Oatmeal Bread he only suggested moistening the top with water then dipping into a tray of rolled oats. I moistened the top with water then scattered rolled oats on top. Hamelman didn't mention scoring so I eliminated that step.

The shape is slightly off. I tried making a huge batard. The ends were slightly wider than the rest of the bread. Next time I will correct this rather than pass on it. The taste and texture were very good.

Steve, that seems very feasible. I will be interested in your results. Hamelman suggested dipping in a tray of oats, but I refrained from that idea because of the danger of slight deflation(this step is just before baking so the dough wouldn't have much recovery time). Your idea would probably work if you spritz the dough with water before placing in the banneton. Do you spray your banneton with a solution of 50% water:olive oil first then dust heavily with flour, discarding excess and finally dusting with 50% rye flour:potato flour? I saw this prep process on the website where I purchased my bannetons. This works great. I keep my flour and oil/water mixtures on hand in containers.

I really like this bread board. If we all experiment with new ideas then pass the results on we will all become better, more efficient bakers.

I do not think in this case that not scoring the bread caused the slight deformity on the ends, otherwise I would expect deformity throughout. I mentioned that the loaf was slightly larger on both ends after I attempted to shape into a batard. I haven't shaped many batards so my skills in that area aren't quite polished yet.

I chose to shape as a batard because I wanted a long loaf. My largest banneton is for 3.3 pound breads. Here is a picture of my banneton:

Was shaping the bread as a batard the best choice for with regard to my banneton shape?

Has anyone else used a banneton and not scored their bread with good results?

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